


17

by isthepartyover



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:09:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1137980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isthepartyover/pseuds/isthepartyover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School!Crisscolfer: A new kid moves to Clovis, and Chris is wholly unenthused. At least, until he meets said new kid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the Avril Lavigne song that inspired it

_There’s a new kid._

That’s all anyone in Clovis High was talking about.

And by lunch, Chris was already tired of it.

Sure it was a big deal (as far as Chris knew, nobody with a kid in high school had moved to Clovis since…well, actually, that had probably never happened. Nobody had ever been _that_ insane) but after four hours of nothing but spreading the news around, Chris thought that they would’ve been tired of the subject.

Apparently not.

He gritted his teeth, looking for a nice, fairly abandoned place to sit in the quad and read his book, because unfortunately, every place he usually hid out from the rest of the student body was occupied.

_Two more years_ , Chris reminded himself. He only had two more years to put up with this, and then-well, okay, he really had no plan of what to do after he graduated yet.

But he’d think of something.

He set his bag down against a wall, sitting against it and pulling out a tattered (Chris preferred the term well-loved) paperback, flipping to where he had left off before class.

He didn’t even notice another person sitting down next to him a little while later.

Until (of course) they spoke.

“What are you reading?”

Chris groaned to himself, tearing his eyes away from the page and looking at the person speaking to him with the best glare he could muster.

It was someone he had never seen before, a rather cute guy someone, with wild, curly hair and a bright smile on his face as he looked at the page Chris had just been reading.

“Ooh, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_? That one’s my favorite. ‘Course, everybody says _Deathly_ _Hallows_ is the best, but I really love _Sorcerer’s Stone_ because it’s the beginning of it all. And who doesn’t love a great beginning?” the guy said. If he wasn’t sitting down, Chris swore he would probably be bouncing up and down.

Chris blinked, looking at his book and back at the boy sitting next to him. “You’re messing with me, right?”

“…No?” was his reply. “Why? Do people here not like Harry Potter? If so, then I think I need to move again, like, as soon as possible.”

“You should get out of here before it’s too late.” Chris warned, smiling despite of himself. So this was the new kid everyone had been talking about all morning.

“You know what, I like you.” The guy laughed before holding out his hand. “I’m Darren, by the way. Darren Criss, professional new kid.”

“Chris Colfer, unenthused Clovis native.” Chris told him, taking the offered hand and smiling at the laugh he got from his introduction. “’Professional new kid’? What does that even mean?”

“I’ve gone to thirteen schools in the past twelve years.” Darren groaned. “It’s tiring, really.”

“Parents can’t make up their mind on where to settle down?” Chris joked.

“Dad’s job keeps him traveling.” Darren sighed, a small frown on his face before jumping right back to his smile. “But enough about that. What part are you at?”

When the bell rang, signaling lunch was over, Chris realized that he had read only a single page of his book instead of the usual at least thirty.

He had spent the entire twenty-five minutes chatting about the series with Darren, debating every little point and aspect.

It was…strange to say the least.

He wasn’t used to talking that long with someone who wasn’t part of his family or forced to work with him for a group project.

But Darren was nice, and funny, (and cute, a part of Chris’s brain supplied) and he knew all sorts of stuff about Harry Potter (some of which Chris didn’t believe and planned to look up once he got home) and…

Chris hoped he was going to stick around.

*

The rest of the day, whenever Chris heard someone whispering (actually: talking really loudly) about the new kid, he listened in, curious about what the rumors were for once.

“I heard he’s gotten kicked out of his last several schools for fighting.” _Definitely_ false, as far as Chris could tell Darren was harmless.

“I heard he’s got a job at the record store downtown.” Possibly true, they had been hiring the last time Chris had gone in. Admittedly, that was last year, but who knows?

“I saw him in the orchestra room earlier, he’s probably one of those band geeks.” Also possibly true.

“He was talking to that Colfer kid at lunch, he’s got to be one of _those_ kids.” Okay, that one hurt. He was only sitting a row in front of them, were they blind or just rude?

“Ugh, not another.” Seriously?

Before they could continue, the final bell rang and Chris gratefully bolted for the door and to his car.

Which Darren was standing right next to.

“Chris!” he exclaimed, perking up. “I shoulda known this one was yours. Cool bumper stickers.”

“Seriously?” Chris asked, his lips twitching up in a smile. “Did you hang around just to tell me I have cool bumper stickers?”

“Kinda?” Darren grinned back. “I saw them, they were cool, and I had to tell whoever owned them. So yeah.”

Chris laughed.

“I also was kinda hoping I would see you.” Darren commented, biting his lip for a moment before saying, “I’m new here, you know that, and I need new copies of a couple books, so, wanna show me where the bookstore is?”

“Uh. Sure.” Chris said, swallowing, a little unsure of what was going on.

“Cool.” Darren said, his smile back in place. “Give me a ride?”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Chris found himself laughing. “You just need me to show you because I have a car.”

“No! I just-okay, yeah, I need your ride more than you.”

“ _Knew_ it.” Chris teased, despite his brain scrambling to figure out if Darren had just asked him out on a date.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t a date.

They had driven to the bookstore, Chris had showed him where the books Darren had been looking for were, and then he had driven him home.

Nobody had ever gone to a date at a _bookstore_ , Chris figured. And they had literally been there for twelve minutes, if it had been a date, it would be the shortest one ever.

Hell, he probably wasn’t even _gay_.

Chris was just jumping to conclusions, letting his imagination get the best of him, as always.

But the next day at lunch, Darren had sat next to him again, this time with his own copy of _the Sorcerer’s Stone_ , (Chris ignored the way the little gesture made his heart jump in his chest) proclaiming that they should start a ‘Harry Potter Book Club’ of sorts, reading a chapter or two every other lunch period and then discussing the next.

That idea lasted about two weeks.

It ended the day Chris had come to school, forgetting his book (and pretty much everything else he had needed for the day) because they had to take Hannah to the hospital the night before.

Darren had taken one look at Chris when he walked over to him at lunch, and hugged him.

“Wanna talk about it? You don’t have to, but if you do, I’m listening.” He had asked.

The floodgates were opened, and Chris found himself telling Darren everything about his sister, and then his family, and how much he loved them and how much he worried about Hannah.

Darren had just sat there, letting him talk, and when Chris was done, he gave him another hug.

“Shit, man, I can’t even _imagine_ how awful that is. I’m so sorry.” He told Chris.

“Thank you.” Chris had said, and Darren smiled.

“No problem.” Darren had said, and from then on, lunch became Chris’s favorite time of the day.

They stopped talking about just Harry Potter, the topic moving onto everything and everything.

Chris learned that Darren was a senior (aka why he hadn’t seen him in any of his classes) used to play the violin (and he still knew how, he was just ‘a little rusty’ and had sold it long ago) along with several other instruments, he loved Disney movies (“they’re the shit Chris! You’re never too old for Disney movies, trust me.”), wanted to make his own album someday, liked to act (Chris wished that the theatre club was still around, he would’ve loved to see that), had an older brother who was now in a band called Freelance Whales (it was kind of adorable how much he loved his brother, Chris thought).

Two months after Darren had moved to Clovis, Chris realized how completely he had fallen for Darren.

_Fuck_.

*

Darren didn’t show up for school one day in February.

Chris wasn’t worried, everyone gets sick eventually. Darren would probably be back the next day, slightly pale and contagious (Chris made a mental note to bring hand sanitizer, he hated being sick) but just as cheerful.

But then he didn’t show up the next day.

Or the day after that.

By the end of the second week, Chris was worried.

Nobody had ever missed class for two weeks because they were sick. After a day or two, well or not, they were always back.

And if Darren was going anywhere, he would’ve told Chris.

At least, Chris was sure he would’ve.

He debated with himself for the last few classes whether or not to go over to Darren’s to check on him. They weren’t in the same grade; he wouldn’t be able to use the excuse that he was just bringing Darren his work. Plus, he had only been to Darren’s to drop him off the day they met, he wasn’t entirely sure he knew where it was.

Chris remembered the rumors about Darren working at the record shop right as he closed his car door.

Oddly enough, that was the one piece of gossip that Chris hadn’t figured out if it was true or not.

He started his car, convincing him the whole drive that it was just out of curiosity. If Darren was there, excellent. If he wasn’t, then fine, Chris could live with not knowing what was going on with him until he eventually came back to school.

He didn’t care that much.

The little bell above the door rang as he opened it, and Chris heard someone at the nearby counter say, “Hey, welcome to-shit.”

Darren was sitting there, looking perfectly healthy and fine, a look of terror on his face as he looked at Chris.

“Why the fuck haven’t you been at school?” Chris asked. “Cause you look fine to me. And you’re here. So clearly it wasn’t because you abruptly went out of town or that you’re sick.”

Darren opened his mouth as if to say something, but Chris continued on speaking.

“It’s been an entire fucking two weeks since you last went to school. Even the kids who usually ditch class don’t stay gone that long. And it’s not like I’ve been worried sick about you or anything.”

“You-you’ve been worried about me?” Darren stammered.

“Of course I have. I only have a massive goddamn crush on you.” Chris fumed, his eyes widening in shock when he realized what he had said.

“You-you know what, I’m gonna-I’m gonna leave.” Chris stammered, feeling heat rise in his cheeks, turning and practically bolting out of the store and to his car.

“Chris! Wait!” he heard Darren yell behind him, nearly making him drop his keys.

“Chris.” Darren said again, but much softer, a warm hand coming to rest on Chris’s wrist. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Chris asked. “You’re not the idiot who has a huge crush on their best friend.”

Darren was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry because I’m an even bigger idiot. I knew I wasn’t going to be here long, we never stay in small towns very long, but I went and fell for someone anyway.”

Chris’s eyes snapped up to look at Darren, watching him with wide eyes as the hand on his wrist moved down to his own hand, Darren’s fingers curling around his.

“I went and fell for,” Darren continued, “this really adorable, kind, funny, smart guy I met on my first day at my thirteenth school. And now-and now I’m moving _again_ , and-and I really, really don’t want to leave him behind.”

Chris wasn’t sure he was breathing as he squeaked out, “You-you like _me_?”

Darren’s solemn look vanished as he laughed, squeezing Chris’s hand. “Yeah. Yeah, I like you a lot.”

“Oh.” Chris breathed. “Well-well, in case you didn’t get the memo inside, I like you too.”

Darren laughed again, one of his hands going up to cup Chris’s cheek.

“Trust me, I got it.” he said, tilting his head forwards and kissing Chris.


	3. Chapter 3

The next couple of weeks were practically perfect in Chris’s opinion.

Well, as perfect as it could be knowing that at the end of those two weeks, Darren would have to move away.

But on Darren’s suggestion, they mostly pretended that he wasn’t leaving whenever they were together.

They went out on dates (mostly to the movie theatre, Darren knowing that Chris liked to keep to himself and it would most likely be hard on him if they were seen by any classmates), hung out at Chris’s (where Chris learned that Darren wrote songs, and was treated to many performances of his goofy songs, the performances usually ending in laughter and kisses), and texted constantly.

But all too soon, their time was up.

Chris was at Darren’s the last day he would be there, laying on the floor and watching Darren shove the last of his belongings into a box.

“Could I fit in there?” Chris asked.

Darren laughed, looking into the box and pretending to think. “Maybe? But won’t your parents and Hannah miss you?”

“…yeah.” Chris sighed. “But I think I’m going to miss you more.”

Darren barked out a harsh sounding laugh. “You’ve only known me for a couple months, Chris. There’s no way that’s possible.”

“But it is.” Chris insisted. “In case you haven’t noticed, I really like you. And you’re my best friend and I pretty much have nobody else who I’m anywhere near as close to as I am with you, so you can just shut up, Darr-”

He was silenced by Darren kissing him, slightly off center and nowhere as gentle as their other kisses had been.

“I’m going to miss you so much, too.” Darren breathed, his voice sounding broken and tired as he curled into Chris’s side.

***

The first few weeks, they would text constantly.

But then Darren would start saying he was busy studying and applying for colleges, and not texting as often, and Chris didn’t really notice himself because he was busy studying for his own finals.

When summer break hit, Chris suddenly noticed how little they had talked.

_Hey_

**Hey!**

_Are you busy?_

**Kinda. But what’s up?**

_Nothing really. I just miss you._

_Darren?_

_Are you still there?_

_Text me when you can._

Darren never texted back.

***

A couple years later, Darren was preparing for the production he and his friends were working on when Lauren dropped into his lap.

“So I saw a commercial for that show you auditioned for. It’s premiering tonight, wanna come over and watch?” she asked.

“Which show?” Darren laughed, batting at her hands, which were in his hair.

“That musical comedy one. I think its name was Glee?” Lauren hummed.

“Oh. Well, y’know I’m always up for a slumber party to mope over not getting a role, but I think I’d rather watch that one alone. Plus, I gotta do a ton of last minute homework, and if I go hang with you, I will get you to help me.”

Lauren wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, don’t come over.”

“That’s what I thought.” Darren laughed, kissing her cheek before she got up and left.

***

That night, Darren turned on the TV as background noise as he worked, leaving it on the channel it was already on as he started revising an essay.

He was pulled out of his work by a familiar voice, and he looked up from his laptop to see none other than Chris Colfer on his tv.

“No way.” He muttered to himself, a grin on his face.

Chris said another line, and Darren let out a laugh.

Chris Colfer, _his_ Chris Colfer, the boy he had met in a shitty little town and who wound up being the best part of Darren’s time there, was on TV.

Not to mention that it was on a show Darren had also auditioned for.

Darren scrambled to remember why he had ever lost touch with Chris, and instantly got mad at himself.

He had dropped his phone moving out to Michigan, and it had been so fucked up that they hadn’t been able to get the memory out.

What a fucking idiot.

Darren sighed at continued to watch, resolving to audition again the next time a role opened for the show.

And hey, maybe Chris would see their show.

***

Chris found _A Very Potter Musical_ the day it came out.

He had been searching for something to watch on YouTube, and it had popped up in his ‘recommended videos’.

The music had started instantly, and Chris watched, puzzled, until the camera showed a familiar looking guy sitting on a suitcase.

The guy had looked up, and Chris had let out a gasp.

_Darren?_

The guy had then opened his mouth to sing and Chris laughed.

It _was_ Darren, and he was starring in a Harry Potter musical, of all things.

Chris watched the rest of the musical with a knot of emotions in his chest.

He missed Darren, he had since the day Darren had moved, and it was odd to see your high school boyfriend and someone he had been so close to once upon a time having moved on with new friends, seeming happy as can be, but still doing something that was so much like the Darren he had known years ago.

Chris thought about leaving a comment once he had finished watching, but decided against it. What were the odds that Darren would even see it, anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Sorkabeth, who wrote a very sweet comment that made me want to continue writing this. Thank you <3


End file.
